Shall We finish this vacation?

I guess I should finish up about our vacation! But first of all, Thanksgiving was great! We had a very small one, with my Mom and Jake’s sister Nicole with us. Jake made his wonderful turkey and we had lots of pie! The kids really enjoyed it more this year too. It was fun to hear what the kids were thankful for. Phoebe said she was thankful for the Prophet, Thomas S. Monson. Kimball said he was thankful for everything and everyone and Warren said he was thankful for turkey. Funny, he didn’t eat any. That night I got some kind of sickness and got to hug a toilet bowl for the 24 hours. It was quite miserable, but it was a perfect time to get sick. My mom, SIL and husband were all here to help. I think I can officially say that today I am officially over all the wonderfulness of this sickness. So, that was our thanksgiving.

Now, back to vacation! After spending a short two days in San Diego we drove to Dana Point early Friday morning. Let me tell you it was a trick to get three kids, our entire luggage and a wedding cake a board a ferry. But, there were about thirty eight people coming to the wedding so we all helped each other. The kids were so stinking excited to be going on such a big boat! Once we all got settled we took off on an hour long ferry ride to Catalina Island. I do not do well with sea sickness and had to try to sleep it off. The kids stayed awake the whole time! They got to see dolphins jumping and whales off in the distance! They loved every minute of it. I couldn’t wait to get off!

(The view from the boat leaving California)
Catalina is such a wonderful Island! I love it! I wish I could go back again. One of the first things you notice when you arrive is that quite compared to the mainland. You are not allowed to have a car on Catalina. You get to drive golf carts, and not everyone as that. Everything is small and in walking distance. There are no large chain stores, all of them are darling little mom and pop shops. There are old fashioned ice cream shops and open restaurants. The houses are beautiful. They are old and well kept. Each has a unique style.

We got to stay at the Beach House. Our view was amazing with a great look out of the harbor. The sunsets were fantastic. The Beach House in and of it’s self was a delight! It was a two bedroom luxurious house. It had a full kitchen, a huge master bathroom (with jetted tub!) and fantastic décor. This is were the wedding was going to happen, so I was a little stressed trying to keep the kids things confined to their room. It helped that there were HD TV’s with cable in each room. Oh and a Bose sound system. I felt like a movie star staying there!

(This is a random house on Catalina, that just shows the beauty of the island)

(This is our view of the harbor, from the beach house)

I think my sister really had a great idea with her wedding. It was very small and intimate. Only the family and closest friends and dates were there. So with the size of the beach house, the night before the wedding my oldest brother Rich made a fantastic dinner. We all pitched in. It was so great to be surrounded by great friends and food.

We got to spend some time checking out the island. I liked looking at all the little darling shops. Jake was brave enough to swim! I thought it was a crazy thing to do, but he loved it. The kids like to play in the water. They discovered sea weed. Wow, I should just get them that for Christmas! I do hope that we can go back to Catalina when we are not out there for a wedding so we can do the out of city things, like the hiking, camping, and the glass bottom boat tours. Maybe next time!

(My bro, Rich being the boss in the Kitchen)

(Jake, Phoebe and Kimball playing in the freezing harbor!)